Oxygen Supremacy earns Pro League spot in Day 2 of Halo Championship Series Summer Finals

The Halo Championship Series Summer 2017 Finals continued at DreamHack Atlanta, where the final relegation matches took place and the Pro League teams fought to move forward in the Championship Bracket. Day 2 marked the first day of closed bracket play, where teams played for the opportunity to play through to the Winners Bracket in Day 3.

In the relegation matches, Ronin Esports took on Oxygen Supremacy in a heated Bo7 for a spot in the Fall 2017 Pro League. After a hard fought battle, Ronin defeated OS 4-2 and secured their place in the Pro League. Ronin moved forward in the Championship Bracket, but were taken out of Finals after consecutive losses to Luminosity Gaming and eRa Eternity.

Oxygen Supremacy secures final spot in Pro League

After losing out to Splyce in the Last Chance Qualifier prior to this season, Oxygen Supremacy were hungry and ready for their first shot at the Pro League. Among the Str8 roster are some heavy hitters from the Pro League, including the newest member of Str8, Rayne. OS have been playing some amazing Halo together since Daytona, with some standout play from RyaNoob. With one spot left in the HCS Pro League, there was a lot on the line for both teams as OS and Str8 Rippin went into their Bo7 series.

OS were able to keep their momentum going after their previous series against Ronin, and managed to come back from a 60-point deficit to win Game 1 on Empire Strongholds 100-93. After scoring a 50-30 Slayer win in Game 2, OS pressed forward and followed up with a 3-0 win on Truth CTF in an incredible 2 minutes and 41 seconds. Str8 needed to win the fourth game on Eden Strongholds if they had any hope of getting the reverse sweep, but OS took the final game 100-48 to send Str8 into relegation and earn their spot in the Pro League.

Championship Bracket: Splyce vs. Team Liquid

Team Liquid seemed to find the winning formula for their roster after acquiring Ace at the end of the Summer Season. Splyce came in hot in Game 1 on Fathom CTF and took a 3-0 win. Liquid fought back in Game 2 on Coliseum Slayer, but Splyce were able to turn it around in the final moments to take a 50-45 lead and bring the series to 2-0 in their favor.

Things seemed to shift on Plaza Strongholds as Liquid took control of the map and the Power Weapons from the start of Game 3. At 97-1 in favor of Liquid, Splyce managed to start making a comeback after taking Yard, but it was too little too late. With some hyper-focused objective work from Ace and intense slaying from the whole team, Liquid finished the game 100-34 to take their first win of the series. In Game 4 on Truth CTF, Liquid managed to trap Splyce in their base with the score 2-1 in favor of Liquid. While Splyce were occasionally able to break out of their base, Liquid were able to keep control of the game until SubZero could grab the last flag cap and tie the series 2-2.

With the series tied, Game 5 on Rig Slayer would decide who would move on to face OpTic Gaming in the Winners Bracket. We saw some incredible plays from Liquid, but Splyce played very aggressively and refused to allow Liquid to close the gap. Renegade was making amazing plays for Splyce, and despite the resistance from Liquid, Splyce managed to keep control of the game until the last minutes. The final score was 50-41 in favor of Splyce, who won the series and moved on to face OpTic in the Winners Bracket in Day 3.